Meet Keaton, Book Buyer

Let me tell you the story of how I fell in love with books…

One of my earliest memories is staring up at my parents’ floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and wondering how long it would take me to read everything they held. It was a mountain made of paper to my young eyes and mind. When my mom wasn’t looking, I’d expressly disobey her, scaling the couch and bringing down as many volumes as I could get my greedy little hands on. Even though I didn’t comprehend even half of what I flipped through, I’d pore over those pages for hours, basking in the scent of ink and paper and the seemingly secret knowledge contained within the words. The only thing I knew for sure at the time was that books were important, powerful, even dangerous--sentiments I still hold among the highest truths I’ve ever learned. It’s strange to think now, so many years later, exactly how profound this early experience was for me. As a writer, a student of literature and a bookseller, I can retrace the entire course of my life back to those first days when I laid sprawled across our living room floor surrounded by towers of books.

The other driving force behind my love of books was my late grandmother. A first generation Greek American, my Yia Yia’s family immigrated from Lesbos in the early twentieth century. Throughout my childhood, she constantly regaled me with dramatic recounts of the Greek myths--THE ODYSSEY and the LABORS OF HERACLES were (and still are) my favorites. As I got older, the myths stayed with me and more than anything sparked my interest in literary studies. I knew they were just stories, but what truly intrigued me was knowing those stories served to shape an entire civilization’s understanding of the world. In essence, for the ancient Greeks (and for many others as well), stories made the world. The power of that realization has never left me.

Now, here at Brazos, I strive everyday to share this love with every one of you--our valued customers and friends. As buyer, I intend to approach the curation of this vaunted bookstore with the utmost respect for you and the great history of literary Houston. What Karl Kilian created forty years ago when he opened Brazos has made our community richer and more coherent. It is a pleasure and an honor to be part of the team guiding this literary adventure into the next forty years and beyond. I promise to do my best to bring you the very best that the printed word has to offer. Whether fiction or nonfiction, it is our duty to help you find that next great book that just might change your life. Thank you all for joining us on this journey. We’re glad to have you. Take care and happy reading!